NONA HENDRYX

THE ART OF DEFENSE

  1/  I Sweat (Going Through the Motions)        (Hendryx)                     6.12
  2/  Soft Targets                               (Hendryx)                     4.21
  3/  The Life                                   (Hendryx,Staples)             6.31
  4/  To the Bone                                (Hendryx)                     5.18
  5/  Electricity                                (Hendryx,Hartman)             3.52
  6/  Ghost Love                                 (Hendryx,Gale,Hairston)       4.14
  7/  I Want You                                 (Greenwich,Hendryx,Kent)      4.21
  8/  I Sweat (Going Through the Motions)        (Hendryx)                     5.43
      (Dance Remix)
  9/  I Sweat (Going Through the Motions)        (Hendryx)                     3.54
      (single version)
  10/ I Sweat (Going Through the Motions)        (Hendryx)                     4.42
      (Instrumental)
  11/ To the Bone (12" Version)                  (Hendryx)                     6.16
  12/ To the Bone (Pygmy Dub Mix - Parts I & II) (Hendryx)                     10.17
  13/ Heart of a Woman                           (Parton,Scott)                3.43
  14/ Heart of a Woman (Extended Remix)          (Parton,Scott)                5.02

          Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York
          Engineered by Robert Musso
          Mixed at RPM Studios, New York
          Track 8 mixed by Ron St. Germain, remixed by Francois Kevorkian
          Tracks 11 and 12 remixed by Tony Humphries 
          Produced by Material & Nona Hendryx
          Tracks 13 and 14 produced by Tom Scott
          Executive Producers: Robert Wright & Vicki Wickham
          Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk
          Reissue Producer: Tony Calvert
          Assistant Producer: Randy Mahon
          Production Manager: Matt Murphy
          Remastered by Maria Triana
Bernie Worrell: clavinet (1,8-10), synthesizer (2-7,11,12), piano (7); Jeff Bova: synthesizer (1,7,8,9,10); Eddie Martinez: guitar; Daniel Ponce: congas & bells (1,5,7,8,9,10); Trevor Gale: snare (1,3,4,5,7-14), pipe (1,8,9,10), drums (2,6), Simmons toms (3), metal (3), toms (5), hi hat (7); Bill Laswell: tapes (1,3,5,8-10), records (1,8,9,10), bass (2-7,11,12); Michael Beinhorn: DMX (1,3,4,5,7-12), synthesizer (4,11,12); Nona Hendryx: lead vocals [uncredited], background vocals (1-5,8-12); Fonzi Thornton & Benny Diggs: background vocals (1,2,5,6,7,8-10); Dolette McDonald (The Daughter) & B.J. Nelson: background vocals (1,2,6,8-10); Patrice Collins & Cherise Collins (The Sisters): background vocals (1,8,9,10); Mr. Biggs, Afrika Bambaataa, Fred Fowler (Shango) & Amad Henderson: background vocals (1,4,8,9,10); Aiyb Dieng: talking drum & bells (2,3,4,6,11,12); Kevin Owens: background vocals (3); Ray Simpson: background vocals (5,7).

          1984 - RCA Records (Germany), AFL1-4999 (Vinyl)
          1984 - RCA Records (USA), PL 84999 (Vinyl)
          2012 - Funky Town Grooves (UK), FTG-276 (CD)
Note: Only the 2012 version contains tracks 8-14.
Note: The 2012 version was limited to 2000 copies.

REVIEWS :

Another Material production, this time with Laswell more firmly in control. The players are his usual suspects: Bernie Worrell and Jeff Bova on synth, Daniel Ponce and Aiyb Dieng on percussion, Laswell himself on synth-sounding bass. Martínez is the only holdover from Hendryx's old band, and even he's barely audible. Another attempt at edgy, spare, trance-like dance music, and "I Sweat (Going Through The Motions)" was a dancefloor hit, but I find it and everything else here repetitive, dull and overlong. Each track settles into its groove in the first thirty seconds, never developing from there ("Soft Targets"), and most of the tracks didn't have good hooks to start with ("Electricity," "I Want You"). If you're a huge fan of either Hendryx or Laswell, you'll probably find conceptual brilliance somewhere on this disc; everyone else should just skip it.

2 stars out of 5.

David Bertrand Wilson (courtesy of the Wilson and Alroy's Record Reviews website)